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There's a video on YouTube from Chris @ Highline Guitars who wants about "proper use of a fret rocker": One thing that surprised me in the video was his suggestion that "your best option to deal with a single low fret is to re-level the entire board." I commented "Why don't you just replace/crown the low fret instead of taking the time to re-level/crown the entire board?" His claim that "it tak…

Hi everyone! So I have a Fender Custom Shop Strat in my shop at the moment, and it's a real PITA. I've leveled the frets, made a new nut, and set it up to my liking. Normally this would help remove a lot if not all fret buzz, but this guitar just keeps buzzing all over the fretboard. Every single fret buzzes. It's very prominent as well. I've heard some guitar techs say that "some guitars just buzz more than others", but I can't accept t…

Hi everyone! I'm looking for advice about heat treatments for a warped neck, I know they are a thing but I've never actually done one. I have an Epiphone Les Paul in the shop that originally I was only going to do a level/crown/polish and a setup on, but when I tried to adjust the truss rod and checked the fingerboard with a straight edge I noticed there was about .030" of relief in most of the middle section, which was pretty consisten…

I have a 70s PBass with a maple “A” neck that could use a refret. It still seems to have the original frets. I tried a level and crown on the already low frets, but I think it needs refret. The frets in the money area are pretty low, .030-.025 and I’m concerned about removing them sideways, as I’ve never had a chance to do that. I understand from the fretorama with Joel Wilkins that when they are this low it increases the difficulty of…

Hey everyone, I could use some advice as far as the fretting process is concerned. I’ve been doing guitar repair since around 2008, I opened my business doing guitar repair in September of 2021, and I’ve always felt that fretwork has been the most challenging part of this job. I’m getting to the point now where I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of it, but I’m not where I want to be yet. I should mention that I use the Erlewine…

Hey all, I’ve got a Prewar Martin on my workbench (1932/33 0-18) and this thing has unfortunately been through the guitar center wringer. I’ve had to reset a fretboard that was glued down with Gorilla glue and as well, rejoint the neck and underside of the fretboard. I had to repair a large deal of tear out that was sitting underneath their fret job and because of that I now have a brittle fret slot all up the board that will not hold a fr…

Hey everyone, I just had a Tele clone built by a small builder in my Proper's Guitar Workstation for a new nut and a fret level. It was clamped down in the workstation for less than a day. I just noticed that the rear hold down clamp left its footprint in the finish. No, I don't know what type of finish the builder used, but I'm trying to find out. I'm thinking its not nitro or poly because I use my TVPGW everyday and this has never hap…

Hey y'all, just been tasked with setting up one of those hoffner violin basses — they're strange but fun things, this is one of the modern reissues but it still has the bridge with the frets hammered into it for saddles. The owner plays in a punk band and has had issues with the low E string jumping out at times. I assume without some way of getting the tailpiece to be held down rather than at the angle it wants to be, the best option w…

Hallo, I have an old archtop (plywood) that needed a refret. There is no trussrod. I talked to the owner, he knows that my work will maybe/eventually more expensive than the value of the guitar. But it was only after leveling the fretboard that I realized that the fret slots are completely off. I talked to the customer again, and we agreed, that I should put a new fretboard on the guitar. I have one, that I took of an old guitar, and reuse…

Hi Gang, I have a 1966 Harmony Archtop in need of a refret and fingerboard leveling. I have not done a refret on a cantilevered neck before. Are there any tips or tricks for supporting the fb extension while fretting?

I have a new client with 100+ shredder type guitars. He gave me a couple of the easier ones to work on. The first is an ESP which fretted out with bends up above the 12th fret. I thought it was just the 2/64th" low action, but the last two frets seemed really high. I suspected there was a shim in the pocket, and yeah, there was. The bottom of the neck heel is deformed where the shim was. The shaded/dirty area at the bottom edge. Not den…